


Field Trip

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:24:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8000176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sigrid takes Madison on a field trip to the Sunfield farm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Field Trip

It was all Madison could do to sit still while her rented horse walked alongside her grandmother’s through the Mirror Marshes. The air was so misty and warm here, and the swamp sounded so swampy, and was that a giant purple spider?

“Madison,” Sigrid called, hearing the other horse’s hooves move away from the path. “We have a long trip ahead of us and the swamp is dangerous for horses. Stay on the path, please.”

“But Nana,” Madison protested. Sigrid gave Madison a look, and the girl grumbled but kept on the path. Madison still looked around, though, seeing a campsite with an old man pottering around, some strange stones with blue bits on them, and a lot of pretty flowers.

The two passed through a village and then continued on towards a pretty little water mill.

“Nana, isn’t it faster to go up the hill?” asked Madison, looking up at the path across the river.

“Yes, but that passes through a farm. It is impolite to pass through private property, and also illegal,” said Sigrid. Madison nodded, accepting that. She was always surprised by how strange the rest of Jorvik was. At home, the only rules were about wildlife and the surrounding land, like keeping away from the sea and being careful around the wild herd.

“Look nana, the sea!” Madison pointed, urging her horse into a trot. Sigrid came alongside her and tugged on the reins gently to slow the horse.

“Yes, the sea is everywhere,” said Sigrid.

“Grandma says that it’s the best thing about the sea,” said Madison. Sigrid frowned, but just this once, she had to concede that the strange sea monster woman was correct. The sea was everywhere. That just meant that she’d have to keep a closer eye on her charge. She didn’t want her husband’s mother to take the child away.

“This part of Jorvik has a lot of farms, hence the name ‘Harvest Counties’,” said Sigrid as they passed an abandoned farm. “Today’s lesson will be about farms.”

“Are you taking me to a farm? But why didn’t we go to that other farm, then?” asked Madison. Sigrid chuckled at her granddaughter’s curiosity and enthusiasm.

“Yes, but many of the farmers in Epona are quite protective of their farms because of a horrid company that I pray will never come to our home,” said Sigrid. “So it was quite difficult to find a farmer who would permit us onto their farm to see how things work. I found one eventually, though.”

“Cool. Where is it?” asked Madison, grinning eagerly.

“On the other side of Jarlaheim. Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon,” said Sigrid.

It was a pleasant ride to Jarlaheim. Madison seemed amazed by all of the trees, because they only had the one tree at home and it was dead. A few other riders passed them but didn’t stop to speak. Sigrid rode slowly so that Madison could better take in the sights, and so she could keep an eye on her in case the girl got it into her head to run off and look at something interesting.

“Wow, it’s noisy here!” Madison exclaimed once they got into Jarlaheim. She continued to look around in wide-eyed amazement at all of the shops and people and vehicles.

“Yes, it is,” said Sigrid. They passed through the city fairly quickly, Sigrid promising her granddaughter that they could come back someday. Maybe at Christmas time to see Santa Claus. Madison would love that.

The clucking of chickens became louder as Sigrid and Madison got closer to their destination. In the farmyard, they dismounted, and Sigrid was amazed to see her granddaughter easily hop down from the saddle. She must have been practicing, though Sigrid didn’t know where she would have learned that. Hopefully not on the wild herd.

“Hi!” A small shape zoomed up to them, and Sigrid blinked in amazement at the dark-haired girl striking up a conversation with Madison.

“Hi!” Madison shouted back, grinning. She’d never seen another child her age before, so this was very exciting for her. Sigrid left them to it, walking over to Martina Sunfield to see how the lesson would go.

“I’m Freja!” the dark-haired girl shouted.

“I’m Madison!” Madison shouted back.

“Why are we yelling?!” asked Freja.

“I don’t know!” Madison replied, and both girls jumped up and down, laughing.

“You have a horse?” asked Freja with a gasp as she ran up to the horse.

“Woah, careful! You have to be quiet and gentle around horses so you don’t spook them,” said Madison. “See, like this.” She stepped up to her midly-frightened steed and stroked his nose, uttering gentle words to him like her great grandparents and Louisa had shown her.

“Oh, okay. But is he yours?” asked Freja. “I wish I had a horse, I only have a cat.” She took in a deep breath to yell, but Madison clapped her hand over Freja’s mouth.

“Don’t yell!” Madison hissed. She took her hand away, wiping it on her skirt. Eww, the other girl had licked her. “Nah, he’s not mine. My horse is back at home on South Hoof.”

“South Hoof?” asked Freja. “Where’s that?”

“Umm, I can’t show you from here, but do you know where Epona is?” asked Madison.

“Nope.” Freja shook her head.

“Fort Pinta?”

“I know the ferry goes there.”

“Well, anyway, it’s near there,” said Madison. “It’s a big empty island. We only have cows, pigs, chickens, and the wild horses. Well, they’re ponies, but they are wild. All except for one, I tamed him.”

“Do you think you could teach me how to tame a horse?” asked Freja. “My brother’s girlfriend lives on a farm with a lot of horses, I want to tame one.”

“Sure! Let’s go,” said Madison.

The two women talking noticed after a while that it had become quiet on the farm. Too quiet.

“Where’s Freja?” asked Martina, looking around. 

“Madison,” said Sigrid, glaring at the spot where Madison’s horse had been. She was never going to take that girl on a field trip ever again. Well, maybe sometime in the future. With a leash. Or at least a GPS tracker.

Louisa’s phone buzzed on her bedside table.

“No.” The word was muffled by the pillow. The phone buzzed again. “Catch your own damn chickens, Filip.” She sighed as the phone buzzed again, signalling a call. Couldn’t she just get a sleep-in with her girlfriend for once? She’d been working so hard lately, paying Herman’s bills (which were kind of hers because she lived in his house) and stable rent.

An arm reached over Louisa to pick up the phone, and she smiled as it was opened and placed against her ear. She could feel Lisa’s warm body against hers, begging her to just stay in bed all day. The words of the caller quickly pulled her out of her cosy sleep-in state, though.

“Freja and Madison have gone missing.”

After a quick kiss for Lisa and brushing her hair and getting clothes on, Louisa saddled up the first horse she saw and galloped for Goldspur farm. Hopefully the girls would be there. After all, Madison loved horses, so maybe her new friend had taken her out to see some.

“Louisa, I’m glad you’re here,” said Jakob when Louisa arrived. “These two rascals have been spooking the poor horses.” Louisa sighed in relief when she caught sight of two little girls in the horse paddock near the upper mill. At least they hadn’t gotten lost in Greendale or something.

“Freja, Madison,” Louisa called. 

“Louisa!” Madison ran over to her, jumping over the fence. “Me and Freja were just trying to tame these horses but I don’t think they want to be tamed.”

“That’s because they’re brand new,” said Louisa. “You’re lucky you weren’t stomped on or something. Now come on, your mum and grandma are really worried about you.”

“But I almost tamed that one,” said Freja, pointing to the Arabian filly backed up into a corner standing in front of her. The poor filly looked frightened, and Louisa could see her tensing up to bolt or something.

“Freja, back away from that filly very slowly,” said Louisa. “If you don’t, you could be badly hurt.”

“Like the snakebite?” asked Freja, shivering at the memory.

“Worse,” said Louisa.

“Oh no, that horse is very badly frightened,” said Madison, finally seeing the horse. “A scared horse is a dangerous horse.” She’d learned that lesson from her great grandparents, and she never forgot it.

“Exactly,” said Louisa. “Carefully, now.” Her heart pounded as she watched Freja slowly back away from the horse, and she sighed in relief once the little girl had hopped over the fence into Greendale.

To her further relief, Freja was too frightened by her near-death experience to go exploring the forest and instead walked around to stand meekly beside Louisa. The older girl picked her up and hugged her, feeling her trembling.

“I’m sorry, Louisa, I just wanted to try taming a horse,” Freja sniffled, looking up at Louisa with teary eyes.

“It’s okay,” said Louisa. “Just make sure you have an adult with you next time you want to do that.”

“Okay,” said Freja, still sniffling. Madison looked very grave too, climbing back into the saddle of her own horse. Freja soon climbed onto the back of the horse and sat behind Madison, and Louisa rode with them back to Sunfield farm.

Back at the farm, the two older women hugged their daughters and thanked Louisa. She rode off, chuckling, while the two girls were scolded for misbehaviour.


End file.
